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Video: Second person sought in Ariz. shootings

Transcript of: Second person sought in Ariz. shootings

HOLT:Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special split edition of TODAY on this Sunday morning. I'm
Lester Holt
live in
Tucson
,
Arizona
.

JENNA WOLFE, co-host:And I
'm
Jenna Wolfe
inside
Studio 1A
here in
New York
. And what a horrible tragedy.
Lester
, details, I understand, are still emerging there this morning.

HOLT:A lot being sorted out this morning,
Jenna
. It all happened here at this shopping center you see behind me where Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords
was hosting a sidewalk gathering for constituents. A gunman then walked up, opened fire on her and then on the crowd. Six people were killed, among them a nine-year-old girl and a US district judge,
federal judge
. At least 13 others were injured, including Congresswoman
Giffords
. She was shot in the head, but remarkably survived after undergoing brain surgery. She remains in critical condition this morning, but doctors say they are hopeful. Meanwhile, authorities have one suspect in custody. His name is
Jared Loughner
. He's 22 years old. At this hour officials are hunting for someone who they think -- they think may have been associated with the suspect. There's the picture that they're hoping someone will recognize and call with information. Coming up, we're going to get the very latest from here in
Arizona
. We'll have a conversation with two people who helped subdue the shooter until police arrived,
Jenna
.

WOLFE:And then,
Lester
, we're also going to take a closer look this morning at some of the victims of the shooting, including the youngest, a nine-year-old girl born on the day of the 9/11 attacks. She had just been elected to her school student council and went to see the congresswoman because she was interested in government. So a sad story there,
Lester
.

HOLT:All right.

LESTER HOLT, co-host (Tucson, Arizona):We want to begin our coverage,
Jenna
, with
NBC
's
Miguel Almaguer
. He joins me with the latest on the timeline of events and where the investigation stands this morning.
Miguel
, good morning to you.

MIGUEL ALMAGUER reporting:Lester
, good morning. Again, those staggering numbers. At least six people are dead, another 13 injured.
The FBI
and the sheriff's department is conducting a joint investigation. This morning they believe they have the gunman in custody, although, as you mentioned, they are looking for another suspect. They say the congresswoman was the target. Panic and chaos outside a suburban
Tucson
grocery store. Saturday, just after
10 AM
, a gunman begins his rampage. Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords
was meeting with her constituents when she was shot in the head at point-blank range. The gunman turned his semi-automatic pistol on the crowd.

Unidentified Woman:There was eight pops that just set off really quickly, and the next thing we know there was just a frenzy of people.

Unidentified Man #1:I was behind a pillar. I saw a man lying on the ground. All I heard was 'get down.'

ALMAGUER:Witnesses say bodies were scattered everywhere, the most gravely injured airlifted. Some survivors drove themselves to the hospital. Several victims are in critical condition. Congresswoman
Giffords
was able to communicate with her doctors while being rushed into surgery.

Dr. PETER RHEE (Medical Director, University Medical Center):She was shot through and through on one side of the head. It went through her brain.

ALMAGUER:The suspected shooter is
Jared Lee Loughner
, a 22-year-old with a criminal history. Police say
Loughner
may have an accomplice and are now looking for this man for questioning.

Mr. CLARENCE DUPNIK (Pima County Sheriff):We're not convinced that he acted alone. There is some reason to believe that he came to this location while with another individual.

ALMAGUER:Investigators are looking into
YouTube
and
MySpace
accounts reportedly registered in
Loughner
's name, but the online rants make little sense. The bloodshed could have been much worse.

Mr. DUPNIK:He probably would have shot other people had he not been tackled by two people.

ALMAGUER:Investigators quickly sealed off
Loughner
's neighborhood, just minutes from the crime scene.

Unidentified Man #2:It's extremely creepy to know that He lives so close to me and he does -- he wants to shoot somebody.

ALMAGUER:Although police believe the congresswoman was targeted, the other victims appear to be random. Among the dead, a prominent 63-year-old
federal judge
; a 30-year-old aide to
Giffords
who was engaged to be married; and a nine-year-old girl, the youngest victim.

President BARACK OBAMA:Obviously our hearts go out to the family members of those who have been slain.

ALMAGUER:Re-elected to her third term in November,
Giffords
met with the public on a regular basis. Shortly before she was shot, she tweeted, "Please stop by to let me know what's on your mind." Outside the hospital Saturday night, tears and a tribute.

Unidentified Man #3:You cannot kill hope with a bullet.

ALMAGUER:A community praying together for the survivors and also remembering the dead. On Saturday, doctors said they were optimistic about the congresswoman's recovery. We hope to have updated information on that later on today. And even as late as yesterday,
Lester
, there was a scare outside of her office. It turned out there was a suspicious package there, but it was not a threat.

Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman who was shot and left handicapped after a gunman opened fire at an event in Tucson, Ariz., and her husband retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly prepare to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 2013.
(Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)
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U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, leave the Newtown Municipal Building in Newtown, Conn. on Jan. 4, 2013. Giffords met with Newtown officials on Friday afternoon before heading to visit with families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
(Michelle Mcloughlin / Reuters)
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Gabrielle Giffords waves to the Space Shuttle Endeavor with her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly as it flies over Tucson, Ariz. on its way to Los Angeles, on Sept. 20, 2012. Kelly served as Endeavour's last space commander months after Giffords survived serious head injuries because of a 2011 shooting.
(P.K. Weis / Southwest Photo Bank via AP)
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Gabrielle Giffords blows a kiss after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 6, 2012.
(Eric Thayer / Reuters)
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Gabrielle Giffords stands on top of a peak in the French Alps with her husband Mark Kelly, right,, and mountain guide Vincent Lameyre, July 23, 2012. On her first trip out of the country since her injury in 2011, she rode a two-stage cable car to a station for spectacular views of Mont Blanc.
(Denis Balibouse / Reuters)
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Ron Barber, right, celebrates his victory with Giffords, left, prior to speaking to supporters at a post election event, Tuesday, June 12, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. Barber, Giffords' former district director, won her seat in a special election after she resigned to focus on her recovery.
(Ross D. Franklin / AP)
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Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, read Rep. Gabriell Giffords resignation speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The day after President Obama's State of the Union speech, Giffords formally offered her resignation to Speaker John Boehner. Weeping, Shultz applauded the strength of her friend and colleague, "I'm so proud of my friend."
(MSNBC)
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President Barack Obama hugs retiring Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as the president arrives to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012.
(Pool / Reuters)
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., left, and Pelosi, right, posing with Giffords husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly of the Navy, at his retirement ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011.
(House Leader Nancy Pelosi's office / AP)
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returns to the House for the first time since she was shot, making a dramatic entrance on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, during a crucial debt vote. She drew loud applause and cheers from surprised colleagues.
(NBC News)
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords poses for a photo the day after the launch of NASA space shuttle Endeavour and the day before she had her cranioplasty surgery, outside TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital May 17, in Houston, Texas. Aides of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords posted two recent photos of the congresswoman to her public Facebook page, the first since the January 8 shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others.
(P.K. Weis / Giffords Campaign / Getty Images)
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Emergency workers use a stretcher to move Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head outside a shopping center in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011.
(James Palka / AP)
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Rep. Giffords, left, speaks during a candidates debate with Republican candidate Jesse Kelly at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., on Oct. 18, 2010. Kelly is an Iraq War veteran and was the Tea Party favorite for the 8th congressional district seat.
(Joshua Lott / The New York Times via Redux Pictures)
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Rep. Giffords speaks during a press conference in Washington, D.C., where members of Congress called on the President to secure the border with the National Guard on April 28, 2010.
(James Berglie / Zuma Press)
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This picture provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Monday, March 22, 2010, shows damage to her office in Tucson, Ariz. The congressional office was vandalized a few hours after the House vote overhauling the nation's health care system.
(AP)
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From right. Rep. Ken Calvert, Rep. Dennis Moore, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and Rep. Heath Shuler, attend a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security hearing on current and proposed employment eligibility verification systems on May 6, 2008. The hearing provided a forum for lawmakers on both sides of the immigration debate, focusing on a system to verify the legal status of workers and job applicants.
(Scott J. Ferrell)
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Gabrielle Giffords with U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut, at their wedding in Amado, Ariz., on Nov. 10, 2007. Kelly's twin brother, also an astronaut, is a commander on the International Space Station. "We have a unique vantage point here aboard the International Space Station. As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful. Unfortunately, it is not," said Scott Kelly of the tragedy that befell his sister-in-law.
(Norma Jean Gargasz for The New York Times / Redux Pictures)
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Representatives-elect including Dean Heller, top right, and Gabrielle Giffords, next to Heller, prepare for the freshman class picture for the 110th Congress on the House Steps on Nov. 14, 2006.
(Tom Williams / Roll Call Photos)
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords rides horseback in 2006. In an interview with NPR last year, she recalled working with horses during her adolescence in Tucson. "I loved cleaning out the stalls, and I did that in exchange for riding lessons. And I continue to ride most of my life. And I learned a lot from horses and the stable people ... I think it provided good training, all of that manure-shoveling, for my days in politics ahead."
(Reuters)
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A page entitled, "Just do it!" in La Semeuse, the Scripps College yearbook in 1993. The photo at right shows Giffords in traditional Mennonite clothing. That same year, she won a Fulbright award to study Mennonites and other Anabaptist groups in Northern Mexico. Gifford's senior thesis was titled "Wish Books and Felt-Tipped Fantasies: The Sociology of Old Colony Mennonite Drawings."
(Scripps College)
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Gabrielle Giffords' senior portrait from the 1993 Scripps College yearbook. Giffords double-majored in Latin American studies and sociology. A Dean's List student, Gifford won several awards during her time at Scripps.
(Scripps College)
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Gabrielle Giffords, right, laughs with her mom, Gloria Kay Fraser Giffords, in a photo published in the Scripps College yearbook. Gabrielle received a B.A. in Sociology and Latin American history from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. in 1993.
(Scripps College)
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University High School portrait of Gabrielle Giffords, class of 1988. Dr. John Hosmer, taught history to the future lawmaker. He tells msnbc.com, "Gabrielle sat in the front row. She was inquisitive ... She was a very mature person from the moment she walked in the door."
(University High School)
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